The Atlantic reports growth, poised for more

The Atlantic has posted a 12.9% gain in paid circulation over last year's June 30 ABC report.

The monthly reports a total circulation of 439,318 — 9.0% more than its guaranteed rate base of 400,000. TheAtlantic.com has also seen an increase in readership, from 969,000 unique visitors in June 2007 to 2 million unique visitors this June.

“I think this growth is coming from a couple of places,” said Jay Lauf, publisher of The Atlantic. “It's a reflection of the quality [of the] content, and the fact that our [approach to] deep journalism is vital right now. There's a lot of frivolous media, but I think stuff that is independent and responsible is finding a place again.”

Readership is expected to grow further following a redesign of the magazine and corresponding marketing blitz launching this fall. Pentagram is helming the redesign, which is aimed at making the magazine more accessible. Euro RSCG and Cleverworks have been tapped for a rebranding campaign, which is expected to cover multiple channels.

Search strategy will also play a vital role in growing the magazine's audience. David Bergeman, hired as The Atlantic's circulation director in June of this year, has been focusing on search strategy to attract visitors to the magazine's site. At the same time, he's exploring methods to convert online readers to print. Lauf said that, so far, 24% of the site's 2 million unique visitors are also readers of the magazine.

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